Six Arrested in Nassau County's Largest-Ever Gun Trafficking Probe

Federal and local authorities on Thursday arrested six men on firearms and narcotics charges following a 14-month undercover operation that Nassau County officials called one of the biggest gun-trafficking investigations in the county's history.

The Nassau County District Attorney's Office announced that the probe yielded 47 illegal handguns, more than a kilogram of cocaine, and roughly 150 grams of heroin. District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, speaking at a Friday news conference in Mineola, said ballistic testing tied two of the confiscated weapons to separate shooting incidents — one in Suffolk County and one in Alabama. Donnelly said she expects more defendants and additional charges to follow.

The case got underway in April 2025 after a plainclothes unit conducted a traffic stop, pulling over a motorist and finding an illegal firearm in the process.

The six men charged are Robert Petgrave, 30; Andrew Petgrave, 36; Jamari Jamaal Purrier, 34; Raeem Smith, 23; Clayton Solomon, 48; and Shahede Folkes, 25. Prosecutors allege the group sourced guns out of state — from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia — and funneled them into Valley Stream, Hempstead, and Queens. Donnelly said investigators believe the suspects may have ties to a Jamaica-based gang, though she declined to identify the organization by name. Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said three of the defendants — Purrier, Smith, and Folkes — were in the country without legal authorization.

Over the course of the investigation, undercover officers completed eight gun purchases and 13 separate drug transactions, authorities said. Donnelly noted that some of the illegal firearms deals took place directly adjacent to a school situated on the Nassau-Queens border, occurring during afternoon dismissal hours.

All six defendants entered not guilty pleas at arraignment Friday before Nassau County Judge Michael Alpert. Robert Petgrave, Andrew Petgrave, and Purrier were each held on $500,000 cash bail or $1 million bond. Solomon had bail set at $250,000 cash; Smith was remanded with no bail option; and Folkes was released to pretrial supervision under electronic monitoring. The defendants are scheduled to return to court July 21.

The investigation was carried out jointly by the Nassau County Police Department, the Suffolk County Police Department, the NYPD, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Secret Service.